Just finished filing my 2003 taxes and let me tell you it was actually a pleasant experience. I decided to do them myself this year for the first time. I didn’t see the need to pay someone. All I had were W-2’s and a 1099-R. So I prepared them, electronically signed and filed them all online! Total time was about 45 minutes and I get my money back in about 10 days, WOOHOO!!! Pary Time!!!
Which filing service did you use? The Wife and I had thought about giving this years taxes an Efile try but are unsure whose services to use.
Not sure if the mods will frown upon this but I used www.turbotax.com . It only cost $20. You don’t have to pay until you enter all you get ready to file so if it gets confusing or you decide not to do them yourself you’re not out anything.
Just becareful which service you use. You can’t transfer the info. For example: Since I only had W-2’s and a 1099-R I thought I could do the 1040EZ but because I had the 1099-R I actually had to do a 1040. When I tried to transfer the info over to Turbo Tax Basic it turned I couldn’t and had to create a new usename and enter the info from scratch.
I totally agree. We’ve used the TurboTax on the web for the last couple of returns and it makes life so much better. I think it even let us file our state returns, too.
Yes, it does let you file state taxes also. Not sure how much extra it costs though. Florida has no income tax so I didn’t have to do it.
Let me tell you. After having used both the purchased/installed version of Turbo-Tax, and the online version. I can personally say that I have no idea why anyone would pay the $30+ just to own a box. We switched to the online version last year. It imported everything from the previous year’s purchased version and let us answer the remaining few questions in about 15 minutes. Viola!!! (Or possibly Cello!!) Returns in 12 days!!
Now, if only my wife’s company would get her !#!@ W-2 here a little faster this year, I could already be spending that money.
I use www.ufile.ca for my Canadian taxes. Only $12.95, and the second time you use it, the whole process is electronic! (They want you to send in the forms by mail the first time you use it, then, if no details such as address change, during the following years, they just send you a small piece of paper with an access code for uploading. Last year I got my refund in two and a half weeks!
Ièm trying to convince my sister to use it. I told her about it, and then she comes back to me and asks me whether she should buy the boxed tax software. I said, “No! You’ll have to update it each year, and it’s more expensive! Only get it if there’s some special function that the online service does not offer!”
Why not just file on irs.gov? Why are these other online tax services different and/or better?
I’ve never filed online before, but I’m planning on it this year.
Nevermind, I answered my own question an hour or so ago. I went to irs.gov, and I was eligible for free online filing:
I clicked on a link about about free filing and answered some questions to see if I was eligible for free filing and was linked to an online service that let me file free based on some info. So I filed federal fee, and it cost 8 bucks to file state electronically.
Easiest and cheapest tax filing I’ve ever done. Cool.
I’ve used Tax Slayer for the last several years. I personally think it’s terrific. The software is free. It only costs IF you choose to e-file: $9.95 to file Federal, and State filing is free.
One caveat: it’s downloaded software, not on-line.
Whatever you choose, make sure you like it enough to use it year after year, since most companies have their software set up to retrieve your “last year’s information” from your system (which makes filing THIS year easier.)
:smack: Thought I fixed that.
You download the software, and prepare your tax return on your hard drive, then connect to the internet and e-file through them. It’s not an on-line preparation.
Good, now I think I’ve COMPLETELY obliterated the meaning of what I wanted to say.